Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Advocates For Those Recovering From Opioid Addiction Fear Consequences Of Medicaid Work Requirements

Red states that have been particularly hard hit by the opioid epidemic are also the ones rushing to add work requirements to their Medicaid programs. But critics say that could backfire for those who are seeking help recovering from addiction. In other news on the crisis: Kratom bans; how cartels are getting drugs into the country; limiting opioids in court; programs to get hospital patients directly into treatment; and more.

Politico:
GOP Medicaid Work Rules Imperil Care For Opioid Abusers
Red states ravaged by the opioid crisis are pushing for Medicaid work requirements that could push people out of treatment as they try to get off drugs. Kentucky, New Hampshire, Maine and Indiana are among at least eight GOP-led states seeking federal approval to require Medicaid enrollees to work as a precondition of their health coverage. All four states have been hard hit by drug addiction, which claims 140 lives a day nationally. (Pradhan and Ehley, 12/3)

Stateline:
As Kratom Use Surges, Some States Enact Bans
Advocates say the substance, which does not depress the respiratory system and therefore presents little to no overdose risk, could help reduce the nation’s reliance on highly addictive and often deadly prescription painkillers. Some addiction experts also argue the plant could be used as an alternative to methadone, buprenorphine and Vivitrol in medication-assisted therapy for opioid addiction. ... Now, with growing concerns about the dangers of prescription painkillers, an estimated 3 million to 5 million people are using kratom and reporting positive results, based on information from retailers. But worries that the unregulated plant product could be abused for its mild euphoric qualities and users could become addicted are spurring federal officials to issue public health warnings — and a handful of states and cities to impose bans. (Vestal, 12/4)

The New York Times:
Heroin In Soups And Lollipops: How Drug Cartels Evade Border Security
The tip came on the last day of January 2014 to special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement: A drug courier was about to land at the Baltimore airport with a large shipment. Hours later, the agents asked the man, Edgar Franco Lopez, a Guatemalan, to search the three large duffel bags he was loading in a car outside the airport. But agents found only food. So they bluffed, saying they had found evidence of drugs in the bags. (Nixon, 12/2)

The Associated Press:
'Take All Their Excuses Away': Hard Cases In Heroin Fight
The van was coming for Richard Rivera, but it was taking a long time. He waited inside the entrance of Saint Anthony Hospital where he had spent the past three days getting off heroin. His next stop: a sober-living facility. As his addiction counselor, DeValle Williams, kept a silent watch, the 49-year-old Rivera griped about the people who found him a bed 22 miles away, complete with meals, job training and gym access. (Johnson, 12/4)

The Associated Press:
Should Opioids Be Banned In Court Over Fears Of Exposure?
The potency of certain opioid painkillers has Massachusetts’ judiciary considering whether to ban the substances from being brought into courtrooms as evidence — a move some experts say is driven by a misunderstanding of the real dangers. The chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court recently told prosecutors that she fears allowing fentanyl and carfentanil into courtrooms puts lawyers, jurors and defendants at risk even when the drugs are properly packaged. (Richer, 12/3)

Pioneer Press:
Minnesota Leaders Detail Rules For Reining In Opioid Prescriptions
Minnesota has a new proposal for how health care providers should prescribe opioids, crafted to reduce dependency on the powerful narcotics. Lt. Gov. Tina Smith announced the new recommendations Friday with health care providers and other state leaders at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. The draft guidelines were created by a group of doctors and community leaders, and the state will accept public input on them until the end of December. (Magan, 12/1)

The Boston Globe:
Patients Call Plymouth Addiction Center A Mere Jail
For the past 15 years, people committed for drug and alcohol treatment had been sent to a barracks-style facility in Bridgewater, part of a sprawling prison campus that includes the state’s psychiatric hospital. In May, as the opioid crisis worsened and the need for beds increased, the addiction treatment center was moved to Plymouth, a serene wooded setting that was seen as more therapeutic. It was a well-intentioned shift, but one that left unaddressed what critics see as the addiction center’s fundamental flaw — that it is governed by prison rules and regulations that can make treatment feel like punishment, or worse. (Cramer and Freyer, 12/2)

Bloomberg:
Once-Monthly Opioid Addiction Injection Cleared For U.S. Sales
Efforts to combat the opioid epidemic killing thousands of Americans each year got a boost from U.S. regulators with the approval of a first-of-its-kind monthly treatment for addiction to opiates including pills and heroin. The treatment, Indivior Plc’s Sublocade, is an injection of buprenorphine, a drug that lessens withdraw symptoms in addicted patients. Its infrequent dosing, once a month, could help patients better adhere to the regimen compared with existing versions that come in dissolvable tablets or films, the Food and Drug Administration said. (Edney, 12/1)

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